Category Archives: Life

fly.

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grandie f whizzes by in the velodrome in detroit

loves to fly on his bike

 works hard for these races

he did wonderfully

 came in 3rd place overall

against opponents who

were older and more experienced

 what a huge accomplishment

keep flying high, f

‘push yourself again and again. don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.’

-larry bird

’tis the season for quafftide.

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best-hot-cocktail-recipes-2023

.word of the day is: ‘quafftide’ (16th century): the season for drinking.

also a pithy way of declaring that it’s time to relax.

works for hydropots (water drinkers) just as well.

*suzy dent

*suzy dent is an english lexicographer, etymologist, author, and media personality

photo credit: elizabeth villanueva

snow fairies.

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deep within the winter forest

among the snowdrift wide

you can find a magic place

where all the fairies hide.

-author unknown

 

 

nichols arboretum, ann arbor, michigan, usa – winter 2025

maze!

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When the cold hits, why not just embrace it in a crazy-mazy way?

This year’s ice maze at the Minnesota Ice Festival is more than just the perfect way to freeze your buns off while getting lost — it’s officially the largest ice maze in the world, per Guinness World Records. Boasting over 18,000 square feet of twists and turns, the maze uses 3,452 blocks of ice, each weighing around 425 pounds. Watch a video of the icy labyrinth. 

‘it’s a lot easier to complete a maze if you start at the end.’

-dale watson, american musician

 

 

source credits: Minnesota Ice Festival, Nice News

‘whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.’ albert einstein

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‘it is not what a lawyer tells me I may do;

but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.’

-edmund burke

 

surprise me.

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 in the same day

an good fortune landed in my hand at lunch

with a bit of a dash

  later at another restaurant

a table-available beeper was in my hand

with a warning

not the kind of adventure I was looking for

is this my bold adventure?

I thought about it.

would I boldly go on the lam with this?

what would I do with it anyway?

I think there must be something else ahead.

‘do not know yourself. i want to continue to surprise me.’

-arielle dombasle, rench actress

 

bagels.

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‘i’ve said this before, and i’ll say it again.

bagels can be an enormous power for good or evil.

it is up to us to decide how we will use them.’

-daniel pinkwater

— 

in honor of national bagel day

which i somehow missed yesterday

but am happy to celebrate today

art credit: bagel sunflowers by laurel greenfield art

fun fact: the first printed mention of bagels is found

in the community regulations of kracow, poland, for the year 1610

stating that bagels would be given as a gift to any woman in childbirth.

-leo rosten

 

 

reading on the fly.

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what an utterly brilliant idea

‘adventure is worthwhile, starting right from the airport.’

– insta quote

virtue.

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This letter from Charles in response to a 5th grade student who had written to him as a class assignment to ask, “What Makes a Good Citizen?’

The student, Joel, still has this letter framed at his home,

and the link to the story is below:

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13852729/charles-schulzs-letter-about-democracy-discovered-50-years-later

Another take on virtue:

Moral beauty can be summarized in one word: virtue. The moral virtues include love, justice/fairness, compassion, wisdom, kindness, honesty, courage, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, etc. It is the enactment of such virtues, the display of them in behavior, which comprises moral beauty. Moral goodness can be noticed through cool cognition, but moral beauty is perceived by a warm heart. Noticing moral goodness may not motivate a human toward prosocial action; but the perception of moral beauty is highly motivating and often leads to prosocial and altruistic behavior. Engagement with moral beauty is the cause of many self-transcendent emotions, but in particular it is cause of the moral emotion of elevation.

-Rhett Diessner, Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies

image credit: Charles Schulz, American Cartoonist/Author, Peanuts 

 

Soup’s On!

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